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Dirk's heroics leave Jazz singing the blues
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Dirk was unstoppable in the 4th.
Of all the terrific performances Dirk Nowitzki has had in his 11 year NBA career, he has never had one like the one he delivered last night against the Utah Jazz. There’s the 50 point game against the Phoenix Suns in a critical Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals. Then there is the game in December 2004 when Dirk won an epic duel with Tracy McGrady, scoring 53 points to McGrady’s 48 in a Mavs win over the Houston Rockets. But last night, he scored only 40 points in a 96-85 Mavs win. He has done that plenty before, so why is it such a big deal? For three quarters, the Mavs were about as bad offensively as a team can look. Luckily for Dallas, it wasn’t until the third quarter when Utah started to take advantage of the situation. By the time the fourth quarter began, the Mavs found themselves in a 67-52 hole. Nowitzki was only 5-14 shooting with 11 points. In a game like this, a 15 point deficit seemed more like 30. The situation was bleak at best. Then something magical happened.
4th quarter play-by-play:
9:36 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 2 (57-72)
9:36 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 2 of 2 (58-72)
9:06 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 2 (59-72)
9:06 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 2 of 2 (60-72)
7:01 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 2 (63-76)
7:01 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 2 of 2 (64-76)
6:31 Dirk Nowitzki makes two point shot (66-77)
6:31 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 1 (67-77)
6:03 Dirk Nowitzki makes driving layup (69-77)
5:31 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 2 (70-79)
5:31 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 2 of 2 (71-79)
5:15 Dirk Nowitzki makes two point shot (73-79)
4:41 Dirk Nowitzki makes three point jumper (76-79)
3:23 Dirk Nowitzki makes two point shot (80-83)
3:23 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 1 (81-83)
2:43 Dirk Nowitzki makes two point shot (83-83)
2:04 Dirk Nowitzki makes two point shot (85-83)
1:29 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 2 (86-83)
1:29 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 2 of 2 (87-83)
0:34 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 1 of 2 (93-85)
0:34 Dirk Nowitzki makes free throw 2 of 2 (94-85)
That is 29 points in a 44 point explosion from the Mavs in the final quarter to turn a 15 point deficit into an 11 point victory. Dirk also dished out two assists and recorded five rebounds and a steal in the fourth. Of the 44 points, he was a part of 34 of them. The 29 points broke a franchise record held by Mark Aguirre (24 points) since 1984. The NBA record for points in a quarter is 33, set by George Gervin in 1978 and matched by Carmelo Anthony in 2008. For the game Nowitzki had 40 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks, 2 steals, and zero turnovers. So not only did he have the ball in his hands a lot, but he also took excellent care of it.
For the first seven quarters in front of its home crowd, Dallas had looked sluggish and appeared headed for 0-2. But Dirk refused to let that happen and told the team to jump on his back. After a season opening loss, the Mavs have recovered to win their last three. Nowitzki delivered the latest of a career full of stellar performances. Now we can just wonder: what will be next?
Below you can watch Dirk's 4th quarter on youtube. I can only put one video on here, so for part II, you can go to this link.
Dirk's 29 point 4th, Part I
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